5.  The applicant was born in 1953 and lives in Sumgayit.
6.  She is a person with a Category 2 disability and receives a disability pension.
7.  On 6 November 2005 parliamentary elections were held in Azerbaijan.
8.  Following the announcement of the results of the elections, the opposition electoral coalition Azadliq decided to hold demonstrations to protest against alleged irregularities during the parliamentary elections of 6 November 2005.
9.  On 26 November 2005 Azadliq held a demonstration, scheduled from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Galaba Square in Baku, to protest against alleged election irregularities. Shortly after 5 p.m. police began an operation to forcibly disperse the demonstrators, because the demonstration had continued beyond the authorised time-limit. The dispersal operation was conducted by riot police units fully equipped with helmets, shields and truncheons.
10.  The applicant and her family participated in the demonstration. According to the applicant, at around 4.45 p.m. she was walking slowly to the edge of the square to wait for her husband to join her so that they could go home. Suddenly, she saw demonstrators beginning to run away from the square in a chaotic manner. At the same moment she was hit on the head and back several times from behind. When she turned round she was kicked in the chest and abdomen area. She managed to see that the persons who had kicked her were police officers in uniform and equipped with shield and truncheon. She lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
11.  Several news agencies managed to take photographs of the applicant lying unconscious on the ground surrounded by police officers. Some of these photographs were published in various newspapers and other news outlets.
12.  The applicant lay in the same spot for an unspecified period of time. She lost and regained consciousness several times. According to the applicant, when she was conscious she saw several civilians trying to help her, but these attempts were actively prevented by the riot police and their police dogs. For a long time the riot police did not allow the ambulance units stationed at the square to provide her with any assistance, and she was finally taken to hospital only after a number of civilians had urged the riot police to allow this.
13.  The applicant was admitted to the hospital at 6.30 p.m. The medical record concerning the applicant reads as follows:
“Tahirova Surayya Musa gizi, born in 1953 and lives in Sumgayit, does not work, admitted at 6.30-35 p.m. on 26 November 2005 and left on 27 November 2005.
Full diagnosis of the main disease, other diseases: blunt trauma of the abdomen and diabetes.
The patient was admitted to the hospital with pain under the left ribs and general weakness. According to her, she was beaten up by police officers at Galaba Square on 26 November 2005 at around 5 p.m. She was taken to the hospital from the scene of the incident by an ambulance. She was examined in the hospital. In the objective examination, in palpation the abdomen is not hard, and is involved in respiration. There is a little sharp pain under the left ribs. Ultrasound examination does not reveal free liquid or traumatic changes in the abdomen. No fracture is apparent in the left part of the rib cage during X-ray examination. The patient was transferred for further examination and dynamic observation to Reanimation and Intensive Therapy Department. On 27 November 2005, at the request of the patient and her relatives, she left the hospital (in a stable condition).”
14.  The applicant spent the night in the hospital and received in-patient treatment. Her condition was stabilised and she was discharged the next morning.
15.  On an unspecified date the applicant lodged a civil action against the Ministry of Internal Affairs, asking for compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage caused by ill-treatment and breach of her right to freedom of peaceful assembly. She argued that the riot police units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had used unlawful, unjustified and excessive force against her, and had failed to comply with their duty to provide urgent medical assistance to persons injured as a result of the use of force. In support of her claims she submitted copies of the relevant medical documents and photographs of the incident.
16.  In the course of the proceedings, the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs rejected the applicant’s claim. His submissions were as follows:
“Firstly, the duration of the demonstration was determined in advance. The event should have begun at 3 p.m. and end at 5 p.m. However, without taking into consideration the end of this period, the demonstrators stayed there with the intention of continuing unlawfully the demonstration. It should be noted that soldiers of Internal Troops were not there. Only police officers and Riot Police Regiment were at the square. They asked with loudspeakers the demonstrators to leave the square after the end of the demonstration. The police officers did not infringe the requirements of the legislation. On the contrary, numerous demonstrators did not leave the square unlawfully after the end of the period determined in advance.”
17.  The representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was silent as to the applicant’s particular complaint on her ill-treatment by the police.
18.  On 31 March 2006 the Sabayil District Court dismissed the applicant’s claim, finding that she had failed to prove her allegations, in particular that she had been beaten or had otherwise sustained physical or psychological damage as a result of the police actions. In this connection, the court held, without further explanation, that the medical record and photographs submitted to the court did not constitute proof of the applicant’s allegations. The court also held that the forcible dispersal of the demonstration was lawful, because the demonstrators had stayed at Galaba Square beyond 5 p.m., the time-limit permitted by the authorities. The relevant part of the judgment reads as follows:
“Article 7 of the Law on Freedom of Assembly of the Republic of Azerbaijan provides the possibility to place restriction on freedom of assembly for the prevention of disorder or crimes, for the protection of public interests and state security, as well as for the protection of other interests which are necessary in a democratic society.
According to Article 14 of the same law, the police authorities are entitled to warn organisers and participants that force will be used in the event that an order to suspend the assembly and for its participants to disperse is not executed, and to use appropriate force to ensure the suspension of the assembly and the dispersal of its participants...
At the court hearing, the applicant failed to submit any evidence proving that the police dispersed the gathering of 26 November 2005 before 5 p.m. On the contrary, it was established that police officers did not intervene in the demonstration until 5 p.m. and, only after the end of the determined period and following numerous warnings, the demonstrators were dispersed...
Moreover, the applicant failed to submit to the court reliable evidence proving that she was injured because she had been beaten by the police and as a result she lost consciousness and fell to the ground. The medical record and the photographs do not mean that the claim was substantiated.”
19.  On 5 June 2006 the applicant appealed against this judgment, reiterating her complaints. In particular, she noted that the court had not examined in detail copies of the relevant medical documents and photographs, which showed that she had been ill-treated by the police.
20.  On 11 August 2006 the Court of Appeal upheld the first-instance court’s judgment. The Court of Appeal’s judgment is almost identical in its wording to the first-instance court’s judgment and reiterates the same reasons for the dismissal of the applicant’s appeal.
21.  On 12 December 2006 the Supreme Court upheld the lower courts’ judgments.